I just got a call from OPM, from the person who will be working on my case, to confirm a couple of things so she could get started. Including the fact that I wanted my health benefits to continue, and that I would like my money back for the difference between the monthly$440 COBRA-like premiums I have been paying and the $126 retiree premiums.
More reason to follow your gut: I don't usually answer the phone if I don't recognize the number; I will wait for voicemail and call the person back. (Okay, sometimes even if I do recognize the number, I'm not a big fan of the telephone.) This time I answered.
Best news I've had in weeks. No idea if this comes with a nudge from the office of Jim McDermott, but it might well based on how the language she used to ask me what I wanted sounded a good deal like what I had written in my letter.
That wind in the background is my huge sigh of relief that this is finally going somewhere!